The explosive growth of social media continues to accelerate. Social media networks currently include but are not limited to Facebook, GooglePlus, MySpace, Pinterest, Tagged, StumbleUpon, and Yelp. As of April 2013, Facebook has 1.06 billion monthly active users, 680 million mobile users, MySpace, 25 million users, Pinterest, 48.7 million users, Twitter, 500 million total users, more than 200 million active users (How Many People Use the Top Social Media, Apps & Services? Digital Marketing Ramblings . . . The Latest Digital Marketing Tips, Trends and Technology, posted on Apr. 3, 2013 by Craig Smith, http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/). Within these networks, a user can link and communicate with other users. These connections represent a network of people who are also potential customers.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,123, to Zuckerberg et al., discloses a method for displaying a news feed in a social network environment. The method includes generating news items regarding activities associated with a user of a social network environment and attaching an informational link associated with at least one of the activities, to at least one of the news items, as well as limiting access to the news items to a predetermined set of viewers and assigning an order to the news items.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,219,500, to Galbreath et al., discloses an online social network in which users of the online social network control who may view their personal information and who may communicate with the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,352,859 to Zuckerberg et al., discloses a method to display a news feed in a social media network environment. A social networking system generates news items regarding activities associated with a user of the a social network environment. The social networking system may also attach an information link associated with at least one of the activities to at least one of the news items, limit access to the news items to a predetermined set of viewers, and assign an order to the news items.
Currently individual users, businesses, and organizations, on becoming a member of a social media network, may create pages with personal, company, or organization information. Members may post links to their web pages where products are sold but sales transactions capability is limited. One such system that provides sales capability is Ecwid, Inc. (144 West D Street, Suite 103, Encinitas, Calif. 92024). This system is based on copying HTML code, called E-commerce widgets, created by Ecwid to the company's website or Facebook profile page. Because the Ecwid system requires copying HTML code to be entered into the seller's site or social media page, a user must be skilled in computer programming and/or website design to use the Ecwid system. A second system is a marketplace application program offered by Facebook, Inc. (1601 Willow Rd., Menlo Park, Calif. 94025) where users may post products for sale. In this system a member viewing a product and wishing to buy the product must contact the seller to arrange payment and provide to the seller shipping information.
What is needed in the art is a sales transaction system that easily and seamlessly integrates with a social media platform. The present invention provides such a sales transaction system being a simple program and method that enables merchants or social media members to easily sell products in a social media network. Through the present sales transaction system product pictures and details are uploaded to a profile page, a member viewing and wishing to buy the product posts a purchase command or purchase direction statement (PDS), the sales transaction system invoices the buyer, and sends confirmation of payment and shipment information back to the seller.